Automatic device for operating water seals for gas-mains.



L. SHAW.

AUTOMATIC DEVICE EOE OPERATING WATER SEALS FOR GAS MAINS. APPLIGATION FILED JULY 27. 190s.`

@@@ A Patented Dec. 8,1903

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^ INVENTOR 4, Gummi,

LEONARD SHW, OF CHICAGO, llJlLlhlOS.

p No. ccas-ie.

pecieation of Letters atent.

Patented Dec. E, lGB.

Application flied July 27, 1998. Serial No. 445,473.

To` all whom it 1mg/@WWW Beit known that 1, Lnonsnn SHAW, ol

Chicago, Cook county, illinois, have invented A a new and useful Automatic Device for O )eratin Water Seals for Gas-ltiains, of unich the ollowine' is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accornpanying drawin s, forming part oi this speci-- lisation, in whic 1.--

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of one torni of. apparatus embodying my invention; and Fig, 2 is a detail view showing the automatie vent pipe.

,I My invention. is primarily designed to pro- 1'5 vide means for automatically etlectin a wan ter seal in the gas main ol gas cleaning lant whenever the gas pressure in the plant tallsbelow a predetermined minimum, for' the purpose of stopping the flow ot gas and reventing the drawing of air into the plant y the gas washer7 which would produce .an explosive mixture in the lant and cause an explosion i'n the event of t iis mixturel becoming ignited from any cause. The invention is, however, applicable to various purposes where the automatic control of the flow of gas can be obtained by variation'ol pressure in the system. The precise nature of my invention will be best understood byA reference to the accompanyin drawings, in which l have shown one embodiment thereof, and which will now,

be described, it being premised, however, that the invention is susceptible of other B5 embodnnents, and it may be variously changed in its details oi construction and ar rangement Within the scope of the appended A claims. v

In these drawings, the numeral 2 desig- 40 nates the inlet portion of a gas main leading to a water-sealing chamber 3, and 4 is the gas outlet pipe leadin from said chamber.

5 is a water tan i, which is connected with the Water-sealing'chamber 3 by means of the bent pipe 6.

7 is a vent pipe which connects the two arms of the bent .pipe 6 for the purpose hereinafter described.

8 designates a closed rela tank, which is shown as supported abovethe water` tank 5,

and which is provided with an overflow o ening at 9 connecting I ith awaste pi e 10 aving a sealing bend or trap 11. he upper portion of the relay tank 9 is connected with the gas inlet pipe 2 by a' pipe 12, whereby the water in the tank 8 will be subject to the pressure ot the gas inlet 2.

13 is a second relay tank, which has a vent pi e 14 opening to the atmosphere, and .which is separated from the relay tank 8 by an intermediate wall 15 having therein a slot 16 by means of which communication between the two relay tanks is effected. Atitsg opposite vend the tank 13 has an overliovv opening 16a, which communicates with a vent pipe 17, which opens at its lower end into the upper portion of the' water tank 5. As shown 1n Fig. 2, the overflow opening 16a extends across a considerable portion of the width of the tank 13, so as to provide for` a sulicient discharge of water tokeep vthe vent pipe 17 normally lilllerl when the Water in the tank 13 is raised to such a level as to lcause its ovrflov by the pressure of the gas in the ch vd tank 8.

is awater supply pipe7 which is arranged to constantly discharge a small stream of Water into the tank 13.

19 is a jet Siphon, which is connected by an exhaust pl e 20 to the upper por'tion of the water tan 1 5, and Awhich receives a constant supply of water under high pressurethrough a pipe 21.

22 is a trapped discharge pipe for the Water-sealing chamber 3. This chamber is provided at its lower end with the usual discharge opening 23 provided with a closure 24.

The operation is as lollowsz-The jet siphon 19 is in constant operation, and so arranged that as long as the -vent pipe 17 is kept lilled with water by the overlow from the relay ltank 13 it will maintain a artial vacuum in the main tank 5. This wil act to raise the water level in the main tank and hold it Vthere as long as the ventl )ipe is kept lilled. This causes a suflicient lowering of the water in the sealing chamber 3 to prevent a seal being l'ormed. When the gas ressure in the closed relay tank 8 falls to or elow thepoint at which the water seal is 'to operate, the water in the open relay tank 13 ceases to'llow through the overflow opening 16a and air is drawn through the vent ipe 17 from the tank 13. The admission ci*3 air in this manner to the tank 5 breaks the vacuum in the main tank, and the water level in the scaling chamber 3 rises to a sul'licien't height to effect the seal. As soon as the required pressure in the gas main is restored, 'the Water in the open relay tank again flows out 110 essere.

of the werden? o it@ and fille the vent s vas ccnduitcr mein lia-vins' a Watermswln u t3 g pipe i?, sc tiret tbe jet si bonagein'exhausts tire en in tbe mam tens., "which raises the Water level therein, csusrng the Water in the settling chamber 3 to back up into the main tank and tlius break the seel. The vent pipe 7 revente the bent pipe 6 from acting as e sip on to dren- 'the Water out of the seal chamber. i y raising or lowering the overiow opening from tile reley tank 8, the level or" Water in the open relay tank i3 may be controlled so as to require a corresponding pressurein the closed tsnk (above or below atmospheric pressure), to .bring the Water to the overflow edge of the open tank. The relative vlmiglits ci the overlloiv edges in the two relay tanks will be -df-ztermined by the pressure at which the gas main Water seal is desired to be filled. My invention rovides a simple end clicco ive means by W ich a variationin the pressure in the system may be utilized to automatically control the flow of gas. While in the system shown, the arrangement o crates upon a diminution of pressure in ghe gas main, it is obvious that it may be made to operate to equal advantage upon a predeter mined maximum ci pressure. ln such ceses the overiiow openings of the relay tanks are simply reversed relatively to each other, the

vent pipe 17 being connected to the tank S insteadci' to the tank 18.

The arrangement mov elec be made to operate by a diierence of pressure in diierent parts of the system, by making the tank 13 a closed tenir and connecting. it with one side of the system-so that the relative levels'of Water in the! two relay tanks will depend upon the difference in pressure in different parte of the system.

My' invention is alsccapable of various` other mcdiiications. Thus, the arrangement of the several tanks, the form of the jet Siphon, and the manner of connecting the parts, which, as shown in the drawings, is

largely diagrammatic, mcy be varied in each case according to the and requirements.

i cluimzy 1. In apparatus of the cnaracter described, a gas conduit or main having a Watercooling compartment, a Water supply reservoir, a conduitI connecting the Water-supply` rcser voir with the Water settling con'ipartnicnt,

particular conditions and means controlled by variations of gas.

pressure Vfor causing the Water to flow from the reservoir to the compartment under certain condition of ges pressure, and from the compartment back to the reservoir under other conditions of ges pressure;l substan tially as described.

lnapparatus ofthe character described,

compartnient,`a mein supply tank connected thereto, means acting to create a partiel vacuum in said tank, and ineens controlled by variations of gas pressure for controlling the action of the vacuum-creating means; substantially as described.

` 3. In apparatus of the character described, a gas conduit or main having a ratei-sealing compartment, a main supply tank connected thereto, means acting to create a partial vacuum in the water-supply tank, two `coinmunic'ating relay tanks, one of which has a discharge pipe communicating with the Water-supply tank, and means controlled by` variations of gas pressure for determining the relative levels of Water in the relay tanks,

,substantially as described.

4. ln apparatus of the character described, a gas conduit or main having a Water-scaling compartment, a main supply tank connected to said compartment, means acting to create .a vacuum in said tank, tivo communicating relay tanks, one of said tanks having a connection 'with the gas conduit at the inlet side of the Water-sealing compartment, andthe other of 'said tanks having an overflow opening communicating with -cdischarve 'pipe leading to the mein tank; substantially' as described;

5. ln apparatusof the character described, c. gas conduit or main having a water-sealing compartment, a main supply tank connected thereto by a bent pipe, a Siphon device connected with the main tank, .tWo communi-v eating relay tanks having each an overflow opening, the overflow opening of one tank connected with a Waste pipe,- and the overflow opening of the other rela-y tank ccnnected with the main tank, and a connection between one of the relay tanks and the gas conduit or main at the inlet side of the Water# sealing compartment; substantially as described. Y

6. In apparatus ofthe character described, a gas conduit or main having a water sealing compartment, a supply reservoir therefor, a conduit connecting the reservoir and compartment, and means controlled by variations ol gas pressure for controlling the air pressure in said reservoir, said reservoir and compartment boing' at suoli relative levels lthat the Water will iiow 'n one direction or the other through said conduit according to the air pressure in the' reservoir, substantially as described.

ln testimony whereof, I have hereunto set in f hand.

.D LEONARD SHAW.

Witnesses A. l. Knlirr'r,

WM. S, PARKS, 

